North Northamptonshire awarded prestigious national Social Enterprise Place status
19 August 2025
North Northamptonshire has been officially named a Social Enterprise Place by Social Enterprise UK - marking it as a national hub for businesses tackling social and environmental issues through enterprise.
This status – awarded to just 25 places across the UK - brings national recognition to the area’s thriving network of social enterprises – organisations that reinvest profits to benefit local people and the planet.
Social enterprises are businesses that reinvest their profits to tackle social or environmental issues. In North Northamptonshire, they include community cafés, ethical retailers, arts organisations, employment services and transport schemes – all delivering local impact while supporting the economy.
Alison Holland, Chair of North Northamptonshire Social Enterprise Network (NNSE) and founder of social enterprise Brightwayz, co-ordinated the bid to become a Social Enterprise Place.
This is a major step forward for North Northamptonshire. Being recognised as a Social Enterprise Place gives our local businesses a stronger voice and a platform to grow their impact.Alison Holland, Chair of North Northamptonshire Social Enterprise Network
Social enterprises are amazing at addressing social and environmental issues in nimble, creative, ethical, effective ways. We know there is strength in numbers and that by being better connected to other Social Enterprise Places we will be able to learn a lot - and share a lot too.
This award is not just about local social enterprises but also about those partners around us such as North Northamptonshire Council who collaborate with and support us.
Congratulations to North Northants on being named a Social Enterprise Place. Social enterprises make a huge contribution to the county - from providing community energy and affordable housing to running leisure centres, creative projects, workspaces, credit unions and social care.Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK
Of course, this isn’t possible without the strong resilient network of purpose-led businesses in the area, and North Northants’ social enterprises are already playing an incredibly important role in supporting communities, providing critical services to the public, improving the environment, and helping to grow the local economy.
We hope that getting Social Enterprise Place status will help act as a lightning rod to galvanise the social enterprise community, supercharge the sector's growth and deliver the economic transformation needed for the communities of North Northants so that they can realise their full potential.
It’s great to see how our local social enterprises are coming together and thriving. Congratulations for achieving this status and we are proud to be supporting this.Cllr Jan O’Hara, Executive Member for Planning and Economic Growth at North Northamptonshire Council
The newly published North Northants Economic Strategy recognises the importance of local social enterprises for the future growth of the county alongside all the community benefits and added social value these businesses bring.
The NNSE network connects, supports and promotes social enterprises in the county. The group currently has more than 40 social enterprises and welcomes new members from across the area. Its aim is to ensure these organisations have the financial, practical and collaborative support they need to grow and deliver real social and environmental benefit.
NNSE is also one of six Aspire NN partner organisations. Aspire NN, funded by North Northamptonshire for three years, supports the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector across North Northamptonshire.
Membership of the NNSE network is free to local social enterprises.